


The Charlie Mystery

by xslytherclawx



Series: (all the things i wish i could say) [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Coming Out, Gay Charlie Weasley, Gay-Lesbian Solidarity, Gen, Lesbian Nymphadora Tonks, Male-Female Friendship, Tonks's Investigative Skills, Video Game: Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-06
Updated: 2019-02-06
Packaged: 2019-10-18 02:41:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17572751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xslytherclawx/pseuds/xslytherclawx
Summary: Charlie keeps stealing glances at the Slytherin table, and Tonks is determined to find out why.





	The Charlie Mystery

**Author's Note:**

  * For [GoodbyeBlueMonday](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoodbyeBlueMonday/gifts).



> This has been sitting mostly-finished in my google drive for ages, so I thought I'd finish it and post it.

Tonks was sure that people thought she and Charlie made an odd pair. After all – neither really quite fit in in their respective Houses, and they seemingly had fewer commonalities than differences. Charlie played Quidditch and was more at home with creatures than with people. Tonks tended to cause trouble wherever she went, and she loved people. It didn’t make much sense that they were so close.

But then, as it turned out, they were both gay.

Tonks had suspected there was something going on with Charlie when she’d pointed out how good Penny Haywood looked with her hair up in second year, and he’d just shrugged and said, “I suppose.”

He supposed. That Penny Haywood was the most beautiful person on the planet. She was the most popular girl in their year for a reason, and it wasn’t just because she was kind and thoughtful and brilliant (even though she was very much kind and thoughtful and brilliant).

But then, in Fourth Year, Tonks noticed Charlie casting glances at the Slytherin table – glances, and not glares, like Gryffindors were typically wont to do.

“Who are you staring at in Slytherin?” Tonks asked one day in Muggle Studies. “I won’t judge. Unless it’s Merula Snyde. Then I’ll have to judge a little, as your friend.”

“It’s not Merula Snyde,” Charlie said, pulling a face. “It’s nothing. No one. Don’t worry about it.”

And, well, that was just suspicious, so Tonks had to investigate.

It was Ben Copper who cracked the code, as they were partnered in Charms. “There are Slytherins in Care of Magical Creatures with him, aren’t there? Maybe something happened there.”

“Ben Copper, you are _brilliant,”_ Tonks said.

She asked Penny to help her figure out which Slytherins were in Care of Magical Creatures – and if she got to spend more time with Penny in the process, well, that was just an added perk.

She and Penny narrowed the list down, to one likely candidate: Barnaby Lee.

So Tonks went to Charlie with her findings. He was at Quidditch practise, so she sat in the stands and waited for him to finish.

“You know this is a closed practise,” Charlie said when he saw her.

“Good thing I’m not on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team then, hm?” She pulled him off to the side. “I know who you were staring at!”

“What?”

“The other day, in Muggle Studies, when I said you were staring at someone in Slytherin! I know who!”

Charlie blushed an impressive shade of red. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“It was Barnaby Lee, wasn’t it?”

“I– Tonks, shut _up,”_ Charlie said. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Tonks shrugged. “Definitely not my type, but I’m just relieved it’s not Merula Snyde. He’s – been nicer, lately, I think.”

“You don’t think there’s anything wrong with me?” Charlie asked in a whisper. He tugged her hand and led her under the bleachers, and she set some anti-eavesdropping charms.

“No,” Tonks said. “Why should that be something wrong with you? I told you I wouldn’t judge unless it was Snyde.”

“But he’s – a boy,” Charlie said.

“You should’ve been a Ravenclaw with those skills of deduction,” Tonks said. “I know he’s a boy.”

“Why, er, why do you think I was – looking at him?”

Tonks shrugged. “I suppose because you fancy him? At least that’s what’s usually happening when I look at people like that.”

“But he’s a boy,” Charlie said.

“We’ve established that,” Tonks said. “And you’re a boy, too, I know. You – you do know that boys can fancy other boys, right? And I don’t care that he’s a Slytherin – my mum was a Slytherin.”

“Of course I know that boys can fancy other boys,” Charlie said. He ran his hands through his hair.

“I’m totally okay with it,” Tonks said. “I mean, I don’t like boys, not like that, but I definitely support you liking boys.”

“You – don’t like boys?” Charlie asked.

Tonks frowned. “Not like that,” she said. “Charlie, have you _heard_ me talk about Penny Haywood? And I’m about the only girl in school who doesn’t fancy your brother Bill.”

“Oh,” Charlie said. “So we’re both…?”

“Gay?” Tonks asked. “Yeah – unless you like girls, too, because that’s a thing – at least Mum says it is.”

“I don’t,” Charlie said. “But I don’t – want to tell anyone else.”

“Okay,” Tonks said. “But you know – if you want, I can talk you up to Lee.”

“I think I’m fine, thanks.”

“Let me know if you ever change your mind,” Tonks said. “Oh, and I’m sure Tulip and I can come up with a great plan to get you two together!”

“Tonks, don’t,” Charlie said.

“Not unless you want me to,” Tonks promised. “I would _never_ out you, anyway. But we should definitely have secret meetings where we can do gay things together. Like you talk about boys, and I talk about girls, maybe over biscuits and tea.”

Charlie smiled. “That actually sounds really nice,” he said.

“Doesn’t it?” Tonks asked. “Just remember – if you end up marrying Barnaby Lee, you’ve _got_ to let me give a toast and mention this.”

Charlie blushed. “That’s not going to happen.”

“You never know,” Tonks said. “If I marry Penny Haywood, I definitely want _you_ to tell all of the most embarrassing stories about me that you can think of.”

“I don’t know if there’d be enough time for that,” Charlie said.

Tonks grinned. “Then we’d make time.” Then, for lack of anything better to do, she hugged him.

He hugged her back. Tonks thought it was nice that they shared this – that, if nothing else, they had _this_ in common. Charlie might not understand what made Penny Haywood so beautiful and perfect, but he understood what it was like to be gay, and that actually meant more.

“You know,” she said. “I think people are probably going to think we’re snogging if we’re down here much longer.”

“Ugh,” Charlie said. He let go of Tonks. “Then let’s get out of here.”

“I mean, I guess if I had to have a fake boyfriend, you wouldn’t be a bad choice,” Tonks said as Charlie lifted the charms and they headed out.

“Tonks.”

“I know, I know, that’s not the point. But still.”

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi on [tumblr](https://xslytherclawx.tumblr.com/)!


End file.
